Khadak Bahadur Chaudhary, a farmer hailing from a rural region of Nepal, has endured numerous hardships throughout his life. Engaged in both fish farming and cultivating vegetables and sugarcane, he owns 3 Bigha land in Kanchanpur where he irrigates with a 2 hp solar pump. He says that “Irrigation used to be more efficient if there were water canals. Living in a rural part of Nepal, we would get less access to irrigation facilities. The only option we had was to use a diesel pump but the fuel was too expensive for us to purchase and water canals are far from where we live.”

So, when he came to know about the possibility of a solar pump, he planned to install it considering the challenges he was facing. He also shared his experience regarding the time he had to face challenges during the fuel blockade imposed in the year 2015. His farm was dry and he wasn’t able to grow any crops and vegetables. Whereas, during the 2020 COVID-19 Lockdown, he was able to run his farm smoothly without any difficulties as he had installed the solar pump. Even with the lockdown, he could run his farming business smoothly.

At present, he has become a pioneer farmer in his community and is politically involved in helping the local community members. To date, the solar pump has helped him expand his business and he had bought two aerators for his fish ponds that have helped him regulate the oxygen levels in the water for his fish during the COVID-19 lockdown. As his farming business started to grow, he was able to provide employment opportunities to 3 locals from his community.

-Contributed by Roshani Shrestha, Marketing Assistant